King's Landing, 299 AD, The Day After
Sansa'sPov
Adrenalin, that's all that was driving her as she thundered through the city, she had taken so many wrong turns and little alley ways to escape the ever watching gold cloaks. Disorientated, that's all that came to mind when she thought about her state at the moment and maybe dishevelled… not to mention to be in dire need for a bath. She was sore from riding with her legs split, she was so close to just handing herself over to the gold cloaks to take her in. If she did she knew they would have a bath not to mention a feather bed waiting for her back at the Red keep… the only thing that kept her was turning herself over was the fact at what they might do… well most likely do to her on the way back to the keep, not to mention Arya driving her away. She felt hot tears escape her eyes, what was she even going to do when and if she got out of the city? She wasn't Arya, she didn't know about what to eat in the forest and the way the sun rose and set… she was alone and she didn't have the first notion to do about it. "A rest," she panted to herself "One small rest and I will keep trying." She paused in a walkway next to a shop of some description; around the corner she could hear shouts and laughter. She didn't give Arya enough credit for the amount of strength and stamina it took to ride a horse with your legs split and at a canter, not to mention concentration.
Yorren's Pov
Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, if you didn't see things quickly in flee bottom you died, or got robbed, not precisely in that order. I peered into the gloom, it was a girl, her cloak was pulled over her head but I could see red hair spilling from it. Now believe you me, I had seen and know a lot of girls and women in my lifetime but they were all just common women. Now, when you live a lowly life you lean things, things that rich folk don't pick up on because they have never had to. Her cloak, it wasn't rough material like the rest of us wore if we could afford a clock, not to mention it was coloured blue/grey, and it was reasonably clean. Nothing in flee bottom was clean, no matter how hard you tried if you could afford it not even soap would make it clean, not even yourself. So when I saw her face tilt up slightly as she panted, her pale skin catch the dank sunlight that filtered through the close walls… I wasn't surprised to find it Sansa Stark, princess of Winterfell. Mind you at the same time I was surprised to find her of all people wandering the streets… I wouldn't have thought she would have lasted five minutes in the real world. It had been word on the street, what had become of the eldest Stark girl; we had seen the young one, Arya, at the beheading yesterday but not Sansa. There had been rumors, whispers, that she had been killed, raped or just… disappeared before it all happened, back to Winterfell some said. Now I knew for sure that she was in face very much alive.
Stepping forwards towards the alley way I knew no one was watching me, probably thought I was just going to take a piss before we left. I entered it and saw her freeze and stiffen up, pretending to tend to her horse. I stalked closer to her and grabbed her by the mouth, pulling her back into me so she couldn't land any hard blows as she struggled.
"Stop it," I hissed peering out of the alley to see if anyone was watching "I am going to help get you back to Winterfell… I knew your father, Eddard Stark, he was a honorable man."
Her body went slack, from exhaustion or relief I couldn't tell.
"Now I am going to have to… change your appearance and you aren't going to like if very much… are you going to hit me?" I asked quietly, releasing her mouth slowly, making sure if she was going to scream I could shush her before anyone heard
"No." She whispered "But please don't touch my hair."
"Have to," I grunted "Don't have many clean ginger's in flee bottom."
"Don't," She hissed, eyes flashing angrily at me "I will do it."
I watched her wince as she squatted folding her skirts daintily, I snorted at that. She pushed a hand into the mud and drew out a handful of it. She stared at it for a long while before she finally wiped it in her hair, letting out a light sob as she did so. Repeating several times I watched as she made her hair brown but still remarkably made it look normal… like her hair was actually a mud brown colour. I still didn't like the paleness of her skin.
"… Better?" She asked weakly
"A little," I shrugged still looking around for something that wasn't dirt to make her skin darker "Skin's still too pale but it will have to do for now."
"What do we do now?" She asked, eyes glassy
"You keep the horse, unless you want to try riding a donkey or going in the cart with no space." I nodded to the horse, "First things first though, seeing if you will even make it out the gates."
She made a girlie 'eep' noise and I grabbed the horse, leading it out of the alley towards my cart with the boys milling around. They looked at me, to the horse, to Sansa, back to me before they went back to loading up and getting ready, I snorted, dumb shits.
"Who are you?" She asked quietly, eyes wide in fright I guess at being out in the open
"None of that now," I growled kicking a boy who was trying to bully a smaller one "Wait till we are out the gates."
"Come on you sorry sons of whores." I barked out, helping Sansa onto her horse "We got a long walk ahead of us to the wall…"
I spied an old dead fire as I was making the last of the preparations, I pretended to trip and threw my hands into the ashes and long since dead coals. I walked towards Sansa who looked incredibly uncomfortable and smeared the ash on her face, making her look like just another dirty brunette woman.
"Just keep yer trap shut and don't make eye contact unless you need to." I growled at her before I walked to my carts, slapped the horse once with the reins and headed towards the city gates
"HALT!" A guard barked at the gates, stepping onto the road, it was Braylin
I saw Sansa pull her horse up just so it was dancing in my peripheral vision, I stood offering a roll of paper to Braylin.
"Yorren," he nodded, eyes scanning over all my property "It says here only boys and men for the black, you have a women in your presence."
"Really?" I asked feigning shock "I don't even read them anymore because I get my orders from the Lord Commander."
"Well it says here only man and boys for the black," Braylin frowned, eyeing up Sansa "Who's this?"
"Kellen," I grunted "She's a whore, the men on the wall have been getting more and more… violent because of lack of a women attention. I was told to bring a whore back."
"Fair enough," Braylin snorted "Poor bastards."
"Dunno how long she will last," I grunted "Poor bitch will be fucked raw by the first night, give me a clean death any day."
"Mmm," Braylin nodded looking at Sansa with a hint of sadness "Off you go Yorren, be careful on the road people have become uneasy with the beheading of Lord Stark."
"Will do," I nodded getting back into the cart, "You have a goodnight, Braylin."
I sighed when we were out of the gates and down the road, we weren't safe, you never are completely safe but we weren't contained. I looked at Sansa, I watched her as she rode, I could see her wincing. She was saddle sore, she was a lady, she would be used to riding side saddle and only at a walk or trot. We walked for the better part of the day until we had to stop to make camp for the night.
"Now," I muttered helping Sansa off the horse "You sleep by me tonight if you don't want anything to happen, you hear me?"
She made a scared noise and nodded, handing the reins to me.
"I don't want to have to scare you," I said gruffly "But I do, some of these men are murderers, rapers and thieves. If you need to make water, don't go so far as I can't hear you. Now you stay here and don't get in the way, I won't be far."
She nodded, cradling her soft hands against her stomach where I could see blisters forming. I sighed, it was going to be a long journey for the Stark girl, that's even if she makes it long enough to be home in Winterfell…
Arya's Pov
I woke in a groggy state, feeling the bitter taste of my father's death on my tongue. In all the sweet songs Sansa sings it describes how the woman wakes as if in a dream and then realises minutes later that their lover or knight in shining armour was dead only to feel like they have lost them again for a second time. That had never happened with me, I don't know about others but when I woke it was just like a dead weight on my chest. I climbed from the bed and stared out the window, for the first time in my life I felt truly alone… father was dead, only the seven know what happened to Sansa and if she escaped Kings Landing, Jon was at the Wall, Mother, Rickon and Robb were home and Bran was a cripple. Syrio was killed by Ser Meryn Trant… Mycah was killed by the hound… for the first time in my life I was truly alone in the world of men, I looked at the height I was up in the Red Keep… I could throw myself and end my misery. I snorted, like hell, even if I die trying I am going to kill the bastard king Joffery, and his whore of a mother. It was early, the sun had hardly broken the horizon. I saw smoke billowing out of the chimney of the forge, a body floating down the river that ran into the distance, I saw ships coming into the harbour, I changed into my water dancing clothes and looked back at the window before pulling myself into a sitting position with my legs dangling over the edge.
I took a deep breath and let myself slip from the stone edge, my breath leaving me in a huge, fast 'WHOOSH' as I plummeted towards the ground…
King's Landing, 299 AD, The first day out of King's landing
Sansa's Pov
I didn't sleep a wink that night, the noises of the forest kept me awake but more than anything it was the fright of something happening to me when I was sleeping. My hair felt lank and… horrible, my skin itched from lack of washing, my clothes stank of dirt, horse and sweat not to mention how sore my whole body was from all the riding I had done in the last what… two days. Gods, it felt like weeks I had been on the run. I felt tears slip from my eyes and I let them, I knew they were putting clean tracks where the soot of the fire had been smeared but I didn't care. I peered around in the dark of the morning, it was still slightly hard to see but there was a handful of thin rays of light slipping through the canopy of trees. My bladder protested at not being drained in so long and I climbed to my feet quietly, as not to wake any of the sleeping men and boys surrounding me. I didn't go far but squatted behind a tree and made water, my whole body shaking with exhaustion and lack of sleep. I just straightened up and rearranged my skirts when I head crunching of leaves behind me. I peered around trying to see where the noises were coming from when off to my right I saw a figure pause, sigh, unlace his breeches and also begin to make water. I looked away and flushed a violent red I was sure under all the dirt and grime, I turned with my head down and began to walk away.
I heard him exclaim in shock at my noise and movement and quickly redo his ties on his breeches. I walked faster, afraid of what he wanted with me. I felt his rough hand grab my elbow and I stilled, shaking in fear.
"I'm sorry," He said gruffly, looking down "I didn't see you there."
I pursed my lips at not being called Milady but let it slide, if I was to reach Winterfell again I would have to put formalities aside. I turned on heel and walked away without another word, desperate to be by Yorren's side where I knew I would be protected if anything happened.
"Hey," he said softly, as not to wake the sleeping "I said I'm sorry."
"Your apology is duly noted." I whispered sharply before turning to walk away again
"You're not really a whore, are you?" He laughed
"What makes you say that?" I asked sharper than before
"For one, you haven't spoken a word to any other man but Yorren and two, your clothes are much too modest and fine for that of a whore." He chuckled "So who are you?"
I felt fear grip at me like a vice, I looked back at him and sized him up, if he had wanted to do… anything… to me he would have done it by now.
"Sansa Stark." I whispered my name almost sounding foreign on my own tongue
"Milady," he said shocked, dropping to his knees "I'm sorry… I didn't mean any offence."
"You didn't know any different," I muttered cautiously, looking around to see if anyone else was awake or heard what I said "Just keep to yourself and we won't have any problems."
"Of course, milady." He nodded, eyes still downcast "But may I ask to accompany you on your journey back to…"
"Winterfell." I offered knowing that he didn't really know much about places of the seven kingdoms
"Winterfell," he nodded "I'm sure that well before we reach Winterfell that some men will have… tried to force your hand."
I looked at him in shock, was this just a… tactic to get me alone and trusting him. "How do I know I can trust you?" I asked sharply, looking at him for any signs of deceit
"I can assure you that if I ever tried to harm you Yorren would geld me or kill me… I wouldn't want either to happen to me," He shrugged "It isn't a hard decision… especially when if I do accompany back to Winterfell they might have a forge in need of me. It wasn't my decision to take the black, milady."
"We shall see." I whispered walking away back to Yorren's side. Surprisingly I found sleep easier after that…
Okay, first update since I adopted this amazing story, sorry about the wait for all who have been keen to know where I would take this fanfic. Again, I don't own anything except my own ideas, so everything else belongs to George RR Martin. Please please update and show me the love and that I am doing the right thing by this fanfiction. Thanks, Paul is all mine ladies. OH and if you have any question, ask me in the review or by PM and I will either answer it in the next update or by PM.